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The sight of two giant US Hercules planes disgorging bulletproof cars on to the runway in Nuuk has moved President Donald Trump’s obsession with Greenland into a new, dangerous phase.
The US national security adviser, vice-president’s wife, secretary of energy and other officials are ostensibly arriving later this week on a “private visit” to watch the national dogsledding contest on the geopolitically vital island. A trip to the US military base in the far north of Greenland is also likely.
It is an explanation nobody in Greenland or its current ruler Denmark is accepting. Astonishment and bewilderment at Trump’s repeated interest in this huge frozen Arctic landmass that is home to just 57,000 people has given way to anger in both Nuuk and Copenhagen — as well as fear.
“What is happening now is reminiscent of the time before the annexation of Crimea,” said Claus Mathiesen, a former military attaché in Ukraine who is now a lecturer at the Royal Danish Defence College, referring to the stealthy build-up of a Russian presence on the peninsula in 2014.
A Nordic diplomat added that the dog sledding excuse is the worst pretext for a trip since two Russians suspected of a poisoning attack in Salisbury claimed they went to the English city to visit its famous cathedral.
The double comparison with recent Russian aggression might have seemed like hyperbole only months ago for actions by the US, a Nato ally of Denmark and Greenland. But Nordic officials say they are justified after Trump followed up his threat to acquire Greenland, potentially by force, with a series of increasing provocations. “It’s more brutal than buying it,” said one.
Greenland is in a particularly sensitive period, making the visit all the more extraordinary. The autonomous island is trying to form a new coalition government and will hold local elections next week. Greenlandic officials have made it clear there can be no meetings with the US delegation until they have formed a new government.
The anger could be felt in the comments on Sunday night by Múte Egede, the outgoing prime minister. “The very aggressive American pressure against the Greenlandic society is now so serious that the level cannot be raised any higher,” he told newspaper Sermitsiaq. He added that the time was “over” where Greenland could trust the US due to good mutual relations and co-operation.
The public tone from Copenhagen was less spiky, but the subtext was the same. Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s foreign minister, said on Monday that the visit showed a lack of respect and an “inappropriate appetite” from the Americans.
In private, the previous attempts to be understanding and open to the US desire for more co-operation in the Arctic have been replaced by annoyance at an administration riding roughshod over diplomatic norms.
That it is Denmark’s and Greenland’s main security guarantor, military supplier, and Nato ally makes it even harder to take. Many believe that Trump and the US are misreading the situation and expect the latest visit to be met by protests.
For both Copenhagen and Nuuk, they had been willing to discuss everything — an increased US military presence on Greenland as well as rare earth investments — except the one thing Trump wants above all else: land.
Trump himself has repeatedly said he wants Greenland for “national security”, citing increased Russian and Chinese presence in the Arctic. “Maybe you’ll see more and more [US] soldiers go there,” he mused earlier this month in the White House, belying an American military presence on Greenland that has fallen from a peak of 15,000 to about 200 currently.
Greenlanders who initially thought that Trump’s interest could help their push to gain independence from Denmark now see the dangers. Demokraatit, the surprise winner of this month’s national elections in Greenland, may eventually want independence but at a much slower pace than some of its rivals. The leaders of all five parties currently in Greenland’s parliament joined forces to condemn Trump and reiterate that they want to be neither American nor Danish but Greenlandic.
But as Egede stressed, it is clear that Greenland needs help from outside to withstand the growing US pressure. Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s prime minister, may have posted a picture of her enjoying a cosy dinner with other Nordic leaders after Trump’s previous overtures, but there has been little willingness from them or other allies to speak out against the US.
“The fact that our other allies in the international community feel like hiding in a small corner and almost whispering that they support us, has no effect,” Egede added. “If they do not speak out loudly about how the US is treating Greenland, the situation will escalate day by day.”
Normally a source for national pride, this year’s Avannaata Qimussersu dogsledding contest is instead giving rise to anxiety on Greenland about its very future.
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